Park Slope Rallies to Find Lost Dog in Prospect Park

"When this caught fire in Park Slope Together, I felt so buoyed and so supported."

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Craig Skelton and his miniature pinscher, Buddy.

The dog that helped Craig Skelton through the early stages of his sobriety was a miniature pinscher named Jack. Craig, an Attendant at the St. Regis New York, and Jack spent 17 years together until Jack passed away in February of 2023. “He brought a sense of structure, purpose, and connection that was really important to me in those early stages of my recovery,” Craig told me during a phone interview this week. “I tried to spend those 17 years paying him back for the difference that he made in my life, and I feel like I did that.”

By early 2024, Craig was ready to welcome another dog into his life, and he knew he wanted a miniature pinscher again. “They're small but very hardy,” he said. So at the end of November, Craig filled out an application after learning about Buddy, a rescued one-year-old miniature pinscher from Virginia. On December 10th, Craig officially adopted Buddy and started to settle into life as a dog owner again. Little did he know, his life would be turned upside down and Buddy’s hardiness would be tested only two weeks later.

On the morning of December 26th, Buddy slipped out of his dog walker’s grip and took off around the Parade Grounds just south of Prospect Park. “I used the same dog walker that I had with my previous dog. I've used them for 10 years without incident. It was a very unfortunate moment,” Craig said.

He spent the rest of the day looking for Buddy around the Parade Grounds and Prospect Park. Nothing.

Craig returned to his home in Prospect Park South to make a lost dog poster, and he registered with LostMyDoggie.com, which informed local shelters, rescues, and neighbors about Buddy.

Hundreds of dogs and cats go missing every week in New York City. One Facebook Group, Lost and Found Pets in Brooklyn, New York, garners dozens of weekly posts by distraught pet owners. Some pets are found and returned to their owners. Some are not.

Craig shared his lost dog poster in this group and ones for Ditmas Park, Prospect Lefferts Garden, and Windsor Terrace. However, his request to post in Park Slope Together, an active 17,000-member Facebook Group for Park Slope, had been stuck in “pending” mode for several days. It wasn’t until December 29th when a current group member, a stranger Craig talked to in Prospect Park, offered to post Buddy’s story for him that the search started to gain momentum.

Photos of Buddy lost in Prospect Park, by Tom Lowe on January 3rd.

This act of kindness led to a break in the search for Buddy. On January 3rd, Tom Lowe, another group member, posted two photos of Buddy along with a caption saying a lost and cold puppy was spotted near the Nethermead on Well House Drive in Prospect Park.

Craig said that since the woman posted about Buddy days before these photos were shared “everybody recognized him, and I started getting phone calls and texts.” All of a sudden, Craig’s search team expanded. “Until it made it to Park Slope Together, it was me, Rhett [the owner of the dog walking company], and a handful of my personal friends doing this on our own,” he said. “And when this caught fire in Park Slope Together, I felt so buoyed and so supported. I didn't feel alone in the search anymore. It gave me strength and inspired me to keep looking and to keep showing up.”

Michael Carson, an Economic Consultant at Analysis Group and a fellow dog owner, was one of the many people who recognized Buddy and texted Craig to let him know where and when Buddy was spotted.

Within an hour of the sighting, Craig was in the park looking for Buddy. “By the time I got there, other people from Park Slope Together were already searching the area,” he said. He estimated a dozen people came out to help search for Buddy that afternoon.

“I decided to cancel my afternoon meetings, and I ran up to the park to look. I spent two or three hours looking and trying to scan the whole area around where the dog was last seen,” Michael said.

Craig, Michael, and the others searched for hours — some stayed out looking with flashlights after dark — still, no Buddy.

The next morning, Michael decided to head back to the park to continue his search. He looked under brush piles, in tree stumps, and even checked some abandoned luggage to see if Buddy was hiding there. Around 11:30 am, Michael texted his wife to say he was coming home. As he left, he noticed a fallen tree with a hollowed-out end.

“I just happened to look in it and for whatever reason — luckily — Buddy picked up his head, and I saw his eyes and face looking out at me from halfway down the log. I was just in complete disbelief,” Michael said.

Buddy hiding in the end of a tree trunk in Prospect Park.

Immediately, he called Craig. No answer. He tried to text. Nothing. Michael shared a photo of Buddy in Park Slope Together hoping Craig would see it. Once again, members of the group jumped into action to help contact Craig.

After spending four hours looking for Buddy that morning, Craig went home to charge his dead cell phone battery and rest before heading back out. “I woke up to 53 text messages, 48 missed calls, and 12 voicemails!” he said.

Then, he got a call from a colleague in the security department at the St. Regis. Someone called the hotel, trying to contact Craig to let him know Buddy had been found.

Meanwhile, Michael was keeping an eye on Buddy in the tree stump when he met Rhett, the owner of the dog walking company, looking for Buddy. Rhett had wet food with him, so they coaxed Buddy out of the tree with the food.

“He was very fragile, very emaciated and skinny,” Michael said. Rhett wrapped Buddy in his jacket and they walked to Windsor Terrace Veterinarians.

Michael Carson and a veterinarian from Windsor Terrace Veterinarians pose with Buddy after his recovery.

Craig was reunited with Buddy shortly after arriving at the vet. “The most important thing to me is that people understand how grateful I am. I don't know if I would have found him without their help, and I’m just so moved and so grateful for the way that this ended,” he said

He added: “I'm from a small town in Texas, and I realized a long time ago that New York City is really a collection of very small towns. It's the biggest small town I've ever lived in. And this is a demonstration of how communities of connection exist in this metropolis. That from, you know, 2,000 feet looks impenetrable, but when you get closer, you realize that it's a hive that is thriving with connection.”

(Top photo of Craig and Buddy courtesy of Craig Skelton. Tom Lowe’s photos via Lost and Found Pets in Brooklyn, NY. Photo of Buddy in the tree and vet photo courtesy of Michael Carson.)

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This week’s puzzle is a photo of dogs playing in Prospect Park, by Martin Seck via Prospect Park Alliance.

The puzzle is 60 pieces, but you can change it by clicking on the box of nine dots on the left of the bar, selecting the number of puzzle pieces you want, and clicking OK. Also, you can view the original image by clicking the photo icon on the top bar, and you can make your workspace full screen by clicking at the top right.

DO THE PUZZLE!

1. ATTN Artists: Lottery for affordable studios in Gowanus is now open: The studios will be located at a new coworking space called The Shop, at 420 Carroll Street, which is set to open in the spring. They’re priced at around $1.66 per square foot per month. These are the first of more than 100 studios coming to the neighborhood in the next few years.

1/10 James Baldwin at 100: Price of the Ticket, 6PM-7:30PM 📍Central Library

1/10 Community Music School Faculty Recital, 7PM 📍Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

1/10 Hack City Comedy with Mic Nguyen and Jenny Arimoto, 7:30PM 📍Union Hall

1/10 RuPaul's Drag Race Screenings, 8PM 📍Parklife

1/10 The Fifth Annual Loving The Alien: A Bowie Tribute Dance Party, 10:30PM 📍Littlefield

1/11 & 1/12 Mulchfest 2025 in Prospect Park, 10AM-2PM 📍Prospect Park

1/11 Summer Camp & After-School Expo, 12PM-3PM 📍PS 321, Upper School (180 7th Ave)

1/11 Live Music and Lantern Crafting with MAPS, 1PM-3PM 📍Old Stone House

1/11 Weekend Art: Saturday Sketch Club, 1PM-4PM 📍Brooklyn Museum

1/11 Studio Workshop: Printmaking and Elizabeth Catlett, 2PM-6PM 📍Brooklyn Museum

1/11 Fam Jam with Our Pal Isaac, 2:30PM-4PM 📍Parklife

1/11 Feng Shui and I Ching, 3:30PM-5PM 📍Central Library

1/11 Opening Reception: 20 Years and Counting, 4PM-6PM 📍440 Gallery

1/11 MESS, 5PM-6:30PM 📍Union Hall

1/11 TASTE: A New Solo Show by Sophie Zucker, 7PM-9:30PM 📍Littlefield

1/11 Scream Real Loud, 7:30PM-10PM 📍Good Judy

1/11 Ladies Who Ranch Give You What You Want: Improv! 10PM 📍Union Hall

1/12 Militarism and Climate Change: Conjoined Crises, 12:30PM-2PM 📍Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture

1/12 Multiplying Houseplants: Propagation 101, 2PM-4PM 📍Brooklyn Botanic Garden

1/12 Performance: Laura Ortman, 2PM-4PM 📍Brooklyn Museum

1/12 Concerts on the Slope: Larsen-Choi Duo, 3PM-4:30PM 📍St. John's Episcopal Church

1/12 Artist Talk: 20 Years and Counting, 4PM-6PM 📍440 Gallery

1/13 Winter Fest Teen Takeover, 5PM-7PM 📍Central Library

1/13 Grieving and Weaving, 6:30PM-8:30PM 📍Green-Wood Cemetery

1/13 January 2025 Romantic Comedy Brooklyn, 7PM-9PM 📍The Ripped Bodice

1/14 Stomp, Clap and Sing with Princess Backpack and Benjamin, 10:30AM-11:30AM 📍Central Library

1/14 Ken Siegelman's Brooklyn Poetry Outreach featuring Marion Palm, 5:30PM-7:30PM 📍Park Slope Library

1/14 PRETTY MAJOR Hosted by Jay Jurden and Zach Zimmerman, 7PM-9PM 📍Union Hall

1/14 Trivial Dispute Tuesdays, 7PM-9PM 📍Parklife

1/15 Winter Corps, 10AM-1PM 📍Prospect Park

1/15 Multiplying Houseplants: Propagation 101, 5:30PM-7:30PM 📍Brooklyn Botanic Garden

1/15 Brooklyn Poetry Slam, 7PM-9PM 📍Brooklyn Museum

1/15 Tara Tai Brooklyn Launch Event for Single Player, 7PM-9PM 📍The Ripped Bodice

1/16 Stroller Tours: Elizabeth Catlett, 10AM-11:15AM 📍Brooklyn Museum

1/16 Brooklyn Reads: In Open Contempt with Irvin Weathersby Jr., 7PM-9PM 📍Brooklyn Museum

1/16 Playwrights in Process (PIP), 7PM-9PM 📍Old Stone House

1/16 LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring Entirely From Memory, 8PM-10PM 📍Littlefield

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Kelley xo